I love Tennessee. With its lush green pines, oaks, and ash lining every street and tucked into every piece of ground that hasn't been built over, it really is a beautiful place to just look at. The people are so friendly and sweet, the music is plentiful and getting from one end of Nashville to the other takes only 15 minutes. So getting lost really isn't a problem. Not that this has happened to me so far; weirdly enough I seem to have a good map of downtown and the outlying interstates in my memory from last year's adventure.
The trip over was painful; I didn't have the best night's sleep Wednesday night, so I figured I'd crash out for a good eight hours on the Sydney-Los Angeles leg. WRONG! I slept for an hour or so at the most, and by the time I arrived into LAX I was delirious. So delirious indeed, that I didn't even realise the cute Border Control & Immigration Officer, Pepper, was flirting with me until I'd walked about five minutes away from him. Pepper! What a gorgeous name for a gorgeous black guy, complete with insanely white teeth flashing at me every time he smiled and asked me more questions (which went from the standard "why are you coming to America?" to the less routine "do you have a boyfriend?" and "I'll bet you're a heartbreaker...?"). Having declared the Timtams I'd brought over for Donna & Andrew (spoiler alert Andrew! You're getting Timtams!) I had to explain to the customs officer why I was bringing Australian Timtams in when they make their own here in the US of A. "Because ours taste better, Sir.."
I arrived into the hotel here in Nashville completely exhausted, and pretty much ready to pass out in the doorway to our hotel room. Upon hearing Donna's voice through the door I cheered up considerably, and woke up enough to have a decent conversation, a shower and to formulate a plan of attack for the evening. It was a toss-up between heading to Cracker Barrel, Buffalo Wild Wings or any barbecue (spelt correctly for the soil I'm on) joint for dinner. The choice was made easy as when we arrived at the T Mobile store to purchase my American SIM card, we discovered a Buffalo Wild Wings literally next door. Excitement! Damn their wings are good. All things in moderation though, and with a full belly and a hazy head from 30 hours of no sleep, I handed Donna the car keys to get us back home.
Mandy joined us Friday afternoon, and she was a welcome sight - it's been far too long since I saw either of these girls and a few days just isn't enough. For me anyway, I'm sure they're both a bit over my company now given it's been two days of shopping. Which, by the way, wasn't intentional - it's not my fault I woke this morning to 7oC weather! I had packed with warm memories (pun intended) of last summer in Tennessee, and had brought only a few things, which consist mainly of singlet tops and short shorts. So today I had to go shopping for something warmer to wear. With weather forecasts in Memphis being the same as they are here in Nashville, I'm looking ahead at a week or so of rather cold, rainy weather. Which doesn't bother me so much now that I have some lovely warm clothes to wear. And... *drumroll* cowgirl boots! Authentic, Nashvillian cowgirl boots. Man oh man are they cute. They'd better be too, for the price they are. I'll be wearing them tonight so will endeavour to have one of the girls take a photo of my outfit showcasing my new purchase.
We went to The Black Keys concert last night, and there's no easy way of putting this.. not the best concert I've ever been to. Gold on the Ceiling kicked ass, and a few others were good, but they just do not know how to engage the audience. It was like watching a loud music video. Their music is awesome, and they're certainly polished and a well-oiled machine, but they just don't know how to play to an audience. I could've done 20 minutes and been happy, but of course they spaced out their big hits so half of us didn't leave after they were all played. The girl next to me was singing her little heart out, god bless her, in really badly off-key notes and it was beginning to hurt my ears. I wasn't sad when she left. She was cute as a button though, and turned to me at one point and sad "are you 21?" to which I was flattered, and said "oh no honey, no" (how naïve am I? I was like ohh she's being sweet...) and then I added "I'm nearly 34" and her eyes lit up and at this point the penny dropped inside my thick noggin', and she said "oh can you do me a favour...?" and I smiled and said as gently as possible "probably not honey". Yeah, like I'm going to be the one that buys the booze that gets her drunk and makes her walk out into traffic. Sure, I'm happy to be responsible for cutting her life short. Nuh-uh! Yes yes, a bit dramatic, I know, but seriously. It happens all the time doesn't it? Teens getting drunk, losing judgement, doing things they can't take back or ending up hurt? I don't need that karma. Besides, you do NOT need to drink to enjoy a concert!!
So tonight we're heading to Bluebird Café, in the suburbs of Nashville, apparently it's featured on the hit TV show imaginatively titled "Nashville". I feel good about this, as it's Mandy's choice, and given I've dragged her around shopping today, I'm glad we're doing something she has chosen. When Mandy asked if we wanted to go I had no idea what it was all about (still not entirely sure, but I hear live music features. In Nashville?? Never!) but I'm totally open for suggestions, and if the girls want to go, I'm keen!
Managed to get some salad vegetables in my diet today, which is great as it's now been over a week since I worked out and I swear I've put on gut fat already. Geez. This body maintenance business is hard work! Would've been great to take Jayvan in my suitcase but alas! I'll be doing it on my own for the next four weeks. The last two mornings have just been impossible for me to work out - Friday I slept for nearly 11 hours as I was so utterly trashed from the previous 48, and last night we didn't get to bed until after 2am (late concert followed by a later dinner and then nattering) so when we finally got out of bed at 10am this morning it seemed wiser to seize the day, rather than make Donna & Mandy wait for me to go to the gym. And in all honesty, I was still a bit tired, and a bit jetlagged. Tomorrow, I promise myself.
Mandy chose a Mexican restaurant for lunch today, which was a great idea. We had a very interesting and almost heated discussion about gun control in the USA, and we had all levels of pro/against in our party. Mandy provided the Georgian point of view, with articulate arguments (which is to be expected as she's an intelligent woman); I provided solid proof that gun control can work to reduce gun related crime and still have citizens feel happy to live in the country; Donna says she can see both sides of the coin and isn't entirely sure where she sits. I value these conversations, debates, whatever you want to label them, and I do like trying to see a different perspective, and I certainly respect Mandy's opinion, but I have to say I still feel strongly about introducing gun control into the States. I'm entirely sure I got not too few death stares from the other diners sitting around us while I made (what I thought to be) valid, solid points in my argument for gun control. As I said to Mandy, I'd like to do a social experiment here, which would be introduce the same gun laws we did in 1996, and just wait 10 years and see how crime rates are, and how the American people feel. I realise there isn't a strong likelihood of this experiment, but it would be a very interesting experiment indeed.
Despite the very cold (for me) weather, and the general gloominess of a rainy day, I'm in remarkably good spirits. Tired still, yes, but very happy to be spending quality time with two women I cherish, in a country I adore, and as Donna said at lunch today "this yearly trip to America thing is great, you have to keep doing it".
Indeed.
Chat soon,
M x
It's 2am.
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